


A Tiny Aurora

by imalright



Series: Pet Deposit [1]
Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Domestic Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Implied/Referenced Sex, M/M, Roommates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-13
Updated: 2019-11-13
Packaged: 2021-01-29 15:47:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,726
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21412666
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imalright/pseuds/imalright
Summary: Sylvain brings a dog home
Relationships: Felix Hugo Fraldarius/Sylvain Jose Gautier
Series: Pet Deposit [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1586674
Comments: 14
Kudos: 268
Collections: Sylvix Squad Super Stories





	A Tiny Aurora

"No."

"Aw, come on! Look at her!"

"Absolutely _not."_

"Absolutely, uh, _yes!"_

Felix presses a finger against his eyebrow. He can feel an impending tension headache crawling forward in his skull, threatening to tighten over his temples and drag him down to a painful death. He regrets each and every life choice he's made that led him to his roommate.

Sylvain sees his silence as an opportunity. "Feliiiix! You know I've always wanted a dog!" He adjusts the tiny white orb in his hands. The orb licks Sylvain's chin. "The lady said this one's already house trained and fully grown! It doesn't get easier than that."

"Sylvain, there are a _ton_ of fully grown, house trained dogs for adoption _all the time."_

"You wouldn't let me get another one, anyway! And this one's right here! Look at her!"

Felix levels a glare at the orb. The orb looks back as if Felix can give it the world.

"You don't have to do anything!" Ah, Sylvain has lowered himself to bargaining. "I'll do all the shitty stuff! I'll train her and walk her and feed her and groom her and — and whatever else it is you have to do with dogs. I'll vacuum every day!"

Felix hadn't even thought about the fur. He'll have to rely on Sylvain's tidy habits — wait. No he won't. Because this isn't happening.

"Do you know what taking care of a dog entails?" Felix asks, knowing damn well Sylvain has no idea.

"I know a dog is a lot of responsibility — "

"You haven't even tried to keep a house plant alive, how do you expect to keep a dog alive?!"

"I've kept myself alive! And _you!"_ Sylvain points at Felix with his free hand. The dog tries to lick it. "You're only alive because I make sure you eat and sleep!"

"Wh — hey! I can eat and sleep just fine without your help!"

"I distinctly remember you collapsing during midterms one year because you didn't sleep for three days and didn't eat for twelve hours."

"That was three years ago!" Felix can feel his temper rising and his headache dragging. He can't keep dealing with this. "This is just — a dog is a bad idea. You shouldn't be in charge of a dog."

"Pleeease! Look at her, Felix! She's the most beautiful daughter we could ask for!" Sylvain begs.

Felix's heart stops and restarts with a new fervor. "Wha — we?!"

Sylvain frowns at him. "We've lived together for, like, _ever,_ and I don't have any plans to leave. Obviously she's our daughter."

Felix must hate himself.

He groans and curses his soft heart. Sylvain knew how to win this battle from the moment he walked in.

"Fine! Fine. Just — she's _your_ dog."

Sylvain's eyes widen in surprise and crinkle up again almost immediately as he lights up with an enormous, blinding smile that Felix hasn't seen on him in years. It's infectious. He finds himself smiling and hurries to wipe his face clean of any emotion.

"What's her name, then?" Felix asks quickly.

Sylvain pauses his adoring scratches to think.

"You didn't name the dog? You're begging to keep it and it doesn't even have a name?!"

Sylvain pouts. "I guess I thought we could name her together."

"Sylvain, I don't give a shit what you name your dog."

"But she's a member of the family!" Sylvain says. He shifts her to face Felix and they make matching puppy-dog eyes at him. The resemblance is uncanny.

"Fine. Her name is dog."

"That's a terrible name!"

Felix has to fight back the laughter in his voice. "No, it's a great name."

"Feliiiiiix!"

"Come up with a name, then, if it's so important," Felix says with what he hopes is only a hint of a smile.

"Fine! I was thinking maybe Princess? Or Sugar, or Paris, Aurora, Snowball, Precious — "

"Wait wait wait, start over."

Sylvain blinks at him. "Uh, Princess? Sugar? Paris? Aurora — "

"That one. Aurora. It's not as stupid as the rest."

"Ha!" Sylvain grins triumphantly, _"We_ named her! What do you think, Aurora?"

Aurora, from the looks of it, has never thought for a moment in her life. Sylvain is satisfied with this answer.

"Great! Aurora it is!"

Felix tears his eyes away from the overwhelmingly _cute_ scene in front of him, unable to stomach both Sylvain's pure joy and the dog's excited affection all at once. _Aurora._ He's gonna regret this.

Sylvain recognizes the I'm-going-to-move-out look on his face and deposits Aurora the Orb in Felix's arms. He stands still, frozen, holding an animal descended from an apex predator that could fit in the palm of his hand, frozen under Sylvain's watchful, tender gaze. He exhales. Carefully, slowly, he adjusts his grip on the dog so he can stroke her with one hand. Her body is almost entirely soft, white fur. Her legs feel so delicate. She swivels her head around in a desperate attempt to lick his fingers and, as she squirms, he realizes —

"She's thin," he says bluntly, able to distinctly feel Aurora's ribs under her skin. Who the hell was in charge of this dog?

"Yeah," Sylvain agrees. He scratches behind her ears and she twists and wiggles to try and lick his fingers, too. "I already scheduled a vet appointment and got food."

Felix nods. Good. Sylvain shouldn't be in charge of a dog but, well, neither should whoever had this dog before. At least this way he'll be around to make sure she's being taken care of.

Sylvain's tender smile transforming into something smug tells him he _knows_ he won.

* * *

"No! I can't deal with this!" Felix shouts.

"Felix," Sylvain is infuriatingly calm, "you're just stressed. You don't mean that."

"I'm stressed because of the _damn dog!"_

"Take a deep breath."

It takes all his self control to not throw Sylvain's heavy hands off his shoulders. His temper spikes when Sylvain begins to walk him through a _deep breath in, two, three, four_ and Sylvain can tell, he knows, because he squeezes Felix's shoulders and stops, starting again after Felix takes a deep exhale.

"Look," he says, still calm and so softly, "I'm sorry Aurora's being annoying. She's just lonely."

"She's _needy!"_

Needy doesn't even begin to cover it. Aurora cries if either one of them shuts their bedroom door overnight. She's constantly underfoot. The moment either of them sits down she launches into their lap and refuses to leave until she's forced to. Gone are the days of his quiet bedroom, of spreading over the couch in whatever stupid way his legs pulled him. Gone is any fleeting chance for him to be alone. His life is run by a tiny fucking dog.

Aurora, who can read his thoughts, barks affrontedly.

"Holy shit, you don't need to be involved with _everything,"_ Felix hisses at her. She's thrilled at his response.

"She just loves you," Sylvain brings him back to the discussion at hand and fuck, the softness in his voice is reflected in his face.

"Well it's annoying," Felix grumbles, looking away from both of them.

"Is it?" He can hear the soft smile in Sylvain's voice. "It's annoying to be loved?"

"Shut up."

"I mean, I guess I should've known that," Sylvain laughs. "You're always calling me annoying and all — "

"What the _hell_ is that supposed to mean?!" Felix steps back and Sylvain lets go of his shoulders, looking very much like he made an incredible mistake.

"I — shit, Felix." Oh, he's red. Felix can feel himself flushing, as well. "You know your friends love you, right?"

Felix feels a very aggravating pang of disappointment; not that he expected anything else. He chooses to focus on the _aggravating_ part and scoffs.

"I can't get a moment of peace from the dog and now I can't get a moment of peace from you," Felix snaps.

"Aw, Fe," Sylvain uses that damn nickname that signifies he's being affectionate, making fun of him, or worse, both. "you don't _want_ peace from me!"

Felix considers what a life where Sylvain leaves him in peace might be like. It would be so much quieter, calmer, he would have one less dog. He realizes, even while thinking about his new peaceful life, that without Sylvain his life would be cold and lonely. Ugh, he hates that he's such a sap.

"Shut up," he says instead of any of that.

Sylvain nods understandingly and doesn't follow directions, anyway. "Hey, I'll distract the dog. Why don't you take a quiet afternoon?"

Felix eyes him suspiciously. Sylvain throws his hands up.

"No ulterior motives!" He laughs. "Just a friend giving you the afternoon off."

Felix sighs. He won't admit it, but it feels like a weight was lifted off his shoulders. "Fine. Just... don't let her scratch at my door."

Sylvain salutes. "You got it!"

Felix shakes his head and retreats to his room. He can hear Sylvain gently distracting Aurora and breathes a sigh of relief; just one evening where he can shower without a dog wiping its spit all over him is what he really needs. One nice, calm, solitary evening. He silently thanks Sylvain.

* * *

Felix enters their shared apartment after his shift and walks straight to his room. Sylvain shouts a greeting from the couch that he can return later. He begins the process of replacing his day pants with sweatpants when he hears a familiar tearing sound. A _very_ familiar tearing sound.

"Sylvain! _Your dog is chewing up my shit!"_

A curse echoes across the apartment followed by hurried footsteps as Sylvain runs to Felix's room. He damn near dives to the dog, slides across the carpet, and Felix watches as he tries to carefully pry Felix's boxers from Aurora's mouth, ultimately failing and playing what the dog thinks is a very enthusiastic game of tug of war. He crosses his arms and leans against the doorframe, sweatpants thrown over his shoulder, and tries not to laugh at Sylvain, a grown man significantly larger than the dog, as he tries to negotiate with Aurora.

"Come on, sweetheart, give it up and I'll get you a treat," he coos.

Aurora snarls playfully.

"Two treats! And I'll get you canned food for dinner."

Aurora takes a particularly forceful tug, tearing the fabric further.

"Aurora, please let go."

Felix loses his battle and nearly doubles over in laughter. He slides down the doorframe holding his stomach, watching Sylvain calmly try to reason with a _dog_ with his underwear in his hands. Sylvain makes a particularly earnest plea and Felix falls entirely to the floor. So consumed with hysterics, he doesn't even realize Sylvain has stopped his negotiations to stare at him.

"I don't think I've ever seen you laugh this hard," Sylvain says in awe. Felix props himself up on his elbows and looks toward Sylvain, but the genuine and open look in his eyes kicks him in the gut and he laughs some more.

"Shit," Felix curses as he wipes a tear from his eye when he finally calms down. "Fuck. I think that was the funniest thing I've ever fucking seen."

"Funnier than the time Ingrid put ants in Dimitri's pants?" Sylvain asks.

"Shit, fuck, you have to stop," Felix is overcome by laughter again as he pleads.

Sylvain's eyes sparkle with mischief, but he decides to let Felix get ahold of himself. He gives up on the whole boxers thing and leans back, watching Felix slowly compose himself before saying anything else.

"She just has too much energy," Sylvain gestures to the dog who absolutely has too much energy, "I might hire a walker to get her out during the day."

"Yeah, you should probably do that," Felix says as he pushes himself back up. He relaxes, now seated on the floor a few feet away from Sylvain.

"We could get a place with a yard next," Sylvain says absentmindedly, "I think she'd like that. I think we'd like it, too. It would be a nice place to build a life together."

Sylvain doesn't seem to second guess anything coming out of his mouth. Felix, meanwhile, has been struck speechless.

"Sylvain."

Felix is about to make a mistake. Felix is about to either expose himself as having feelings, open himself up for disappointment and heartbreak, or more than likely, both.

"What did you mean by that?"

Sylvain seems taken aback; he tries to mask himself behind a smile. A charming smile, yes, but a smile Felix knows is meant to distract from his thoughts.

"Nothing! I didn't mean anything, I just — "

"None of that, Gautier." Felix pokes him in the chest. "What. Did. You. Mean."

Sylvain sucks in a deep breath. He throws his arms up in surrender and warns, "You're gonna be pissed at me."

"As pissed as when you brought a _fucking dog_ home and didn't ask about it?" Felix gestures to Aurora, who's having a great time with his shredded underwear.

"Uhh, maybe?"

Felix narrows his eyes. "Out with it."

"I just — I guess I've been, uh, planning my life around you," he admits sheepishly. "I don't know, is that weird?"

Felix blinks.

"I don't see myself standing beside anyone else, you know?"

Felix's brain stops working.

"Hey, are you okay?"

Felix pinches the bridge of his nose. His thoughts restart at a rapid pace and it takes him a moment to find the correct words.

"What about when you find a wife, Sylvain? I don't think she'll like you standing by my side," he cuts in a last bid, a final opportunity for Sylvain to back out without getting Felix's hopes up too far.

Sylvain does not take it.

"I don't want a wife," he whispers.

Felix looks at him again; his smile has fallen. He looks more serious than he's been in a long, long time. He swallows his pride.

"Please just say what you mean, because if I'm misunderstanding and I get my hopes up for nothing I'm gonna feel really shitty," Felix says.

"Okay, look," Sylvain abandons Aurora to her beloved underwear and scoots toward Felix on the floor, "I know we've known each other for a long time, and we've always been close."

Felix nods at him to continue.

"I don't know where the platonic domestic shit ends and where the life partner domestic shit begins, okay?"

Felix's brain stops working again.

Sylvain waits.

Felix's brain has recovered exactly one word.

"What."

Sylvain, who has seen Felix's brain stop working many times, continues to wait.

"L-life partner?" Felix says smoothly.

"Ha, yeah, I guess that's pretty stupid," Sylvain says without a smile, eyes cast downward.

Felix settles on honest. "Pretty stupid not to tell me," he mutters.

Sylvain looks back to him. Felix sighs.

"You suck at talking about your feelings," he tells him.

That earns a snort. "Like you're any better," Sylvain retorts.

Felix shrugs. There's a pause.

"So... you're not mad?" Sylvain's voice is hopeful, a tiny smile making its way across his lips.

"Why would I be mad?" Felix asks quietly.

"I don't know," Sylvain scoots forward again. Their knees touch together between them. Felix feels incredibly warm. "I thought you might not like hearing your best friend has been in lo — fuck! Aurora!"

Sylvain and Felix both jump as they're snapped out of their focus by Aurora taking a running leap into Sylvain's lap. She looks up at them, very pleased with herself and thrilled to be part of the conversation. Felix scratches under her chin and Sylvain sighs.

"That went well," Sylvain mutters just loud enough for Felix to hear.

"Get better at talking about your feelings, then," Felix says, and then he cuts off Sylvain's reply with a hand wrapped in his collar, pulling him forward until their lips meet. For one cold moment Sylvain doesn't respond, but then he _does_ and Felix bites at his lip and climbs into his lap and Sylvain's hands are around his waist and Felix is pressing their bodies together and _damn, when did Aurora move?_ He supposes it doesn't matter and goes back to kissing Sylvain unlike anyone he's ever kissed before, a deep intimacy and domesticity already between them, warm and homey and everything Felix has never allowed himself to dream of.__

_ __ _

__

Sylvain adjusts himself beneath Felix and guides him to stand, only breaking their kiss to kiss his cheek and jaw and to whisper, "Follow me."

* * *

Felix wakes up slowly; warm and comfortable. Weighed down. He drifts in and out for awhile, deeper into luxurious sleep and back into dim contentment, growing more and more aware of the weight at his feet and against his back. He stretches his arms out in front of him and opens his eyes and for just a moment has no idea where he is. His body tenses in surprise and his eyes dart around the room while his brain sluggishly recalls the previous night.

_Ah._

Memories of hands that could eclipse his own grasping and groping at his body, lips that taste so new and yet so familiar, moans and gasps in a voice he knows like his own, they all hit him in one sharp breath. He turns around slowly and comes face-to-face with those memories sleeping peacefully, like he didn't fuck his roommate and childhood friend the night before, his arm draped over Felix's hip, and a _big ass hickey_ at the base of his neck. Felix's eyes lock on the purple mark. He's going to die. He's going to kill Sylvain, then he's going to be swallowed up by the ground and then he's going to die. He throws himself back into the pillows and tries very, very hard to think about his feelings like a fucking adult.

He's spent most of his life avoiding love and romance, avoiding distractions, and somehow it caught him anyway.

_Then again,_ he thinks as the weight at his feet shifts, _I've been avoiding owning a damn dog, too._

A _clangclangclang_ cuts through the peaceful silence as Aurora shakes herself awake on Felix's feet. She noses her way up the bed to Felix's face and licks up his nose.

"Ugh — gross!" Felix pushes her away. She licks his palm instead. "That's not better."

Sylvain shifts behind him. He freezes.

"Hold on, I gotta take her out," Sylvain groans, his voice heavy with sleep. He sits up, scoots down the bed, and freezes. He turns.

He stares.

Felix stares back.

_They're still naked._

"Um," Sylvain begins smoothly.

"Take the damn dog out," Felix grumbles.

"Right," he says. Felix stays where he is under the blankets while Sylvain puts his pants on. Aurora loses her mind and runs off the bed to their front door with Sylvain padding slowly behind her. Felix listens to the jingling sound of Sylvain grabbing her leash, listens to the door open, listens to the door close, and listens to the silence.

He's feeling something. A lot of things. Heavy, warm, confused, and as he lays still in Sylvain's bed, unable to chase down his thoughts before they disappear, he feels weak. Weak that he hasn't left Sylvain's bed, weak that he can't sort through his own feelings, and weak that he knows damn well what he's feeling and doesn't want to. Weak that Sylvain feels the same way and how that makes him _happy._ He's fucking happy.

He barely gets through the surface level of his thoughts when Sylvain returns, freely letting the apartment door swing shut because the man has never heard of quiet in his life. He hears Sylvain walk to the doorframe and stop.

"Heh, not gonna lie," Felix can practically see Sylvain rubbing the back of his neck, "I assumed you were gonna bolt as soon as I went outside."

Felix doesn't dignify that with a response.

"A-are you mad at me?"

"Why the hell would I be mad?" Felix snaps.

"You're not?" Sylvain asks. His voice sounds choked.

Felix sits up to look at him, allowing the blanket to fall and expose his torso. Sylvain looks scared. He also looks like he's putting a lot of effort in to not stare at Felix's body.

"You realize I was completely sober last night, right?"

"I know!" Sylvain says defensively. He closes his eyes and when he exhales he seems to deflate. "I was... worried."

Felix raises an eyebrow. "Why?"

"You know!"

He's not sure he does.

"What? Do you want me to leave?" He asks, his voice venomous as the disappointment and heartbreak he was afraid of begin to take hold.

"No! No," Sylvain steps forward slowly, his arms in front of him like he's placating a scared animal. "That's not it. I — I'm just afraid I fucked this up."

The haze of anger and grief pauses its advance, coloring only the edges of his vision. Sylvain's terrified, yet somehow still bright, face stands out in the middle of his vision. Across the apartment he can hear Aurora's collar hitting the edge of her food bowl.

"Well? Did you?" He asks.

The ghost of a smile passes over Sylvain's face. He takes another step forward. "I don't know, did I?"

Felix rolls his eyes and lays back down under the covers. "That's a stupid question."

He doesn't have to see Sylvain's warm smile to know it's finally back. He crawls under the covers and presses himself against Felix's still naked body. Felix relaxes into him and Sylvain's arm snakes around to his chest, coming to rest above his fluttering heart. Now, of all times, he feels compelled to fill the silence. He considers his words and their meaning and intention and wonders what to say. What order to put his words in.

"I'm... happy," Felix says poetically. He inwardly curses himself for saying something so stupid and honest.

Sylvain presses his forehead into the back of Felix's neck and doesn't respond.

Aurora jumps into bed with them and curls up in front of Felix. He rests an arm over her tiny body.

"See?" Sylvain whispers fondly, "We're a family."

Felix kicks him under the covers. Sylvain returns the favor before pulling him closer, holding him tighter, and kissing the back of his neck. They both sigh and the rest of the morning passes leisurely while they lay together, talking occasionally and sharing long overdue kisses and whispers of affection. The dog dozes next to them. A peaceful morning, one of many to follow.

**Author's Note:**

> so while i was writing the end of this (because i might as well write on notecards and throw them in the air and post them in whatever order i grab first) i sent a message to a group chat i have with my wife and a friend and asked what i should name the dog. their suggestions included cocaine, blow snow, and drug dog. then i told them sylvain would NEVER do such a thing to a good dog and they suggested sylvain 2, sylvain but smaller, "felix but it's a 'joke'", "wheeeeeeeee!", our actual irl dungeon master's name, and kyubey. then i blocked them
> 
> anyway i started this because i outlined an angsty fic and got angsty and said to myself, "what's the most fluffy, domestic one shot i could possibly write?"
> 
> [twitter](http://www.twitter.com/punchyfakegamer)


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